Why do so many PR and branding companies have the worst websites? Because they don’t understand how branding works online.
In spite of their website, they’ve done some interesting work at Futurebrand. I’m talking about their Country Brand Index.
Apparently Italy ranks as the top overall destination, according to a global survey that identifies countries as brands… Australia and the U.S. take the second and third positions.
China is the “most improved” country brand, the U.S. is “best country brand for business travel” and Italy is the “best country brand for art and culture.”
“If a ‘brand’ is defined as an experience, then some of the world’s most powerful and recognizable brands should be countries. The challenge the industry faces is that it must move away from the traditional reactive and tactical marketing approaches and instead, create and deliver an overall brand experience that drives sales and turns visitors into country-brand evangelists,” says Rene A. Mack of Weber Shandwick, the agency involved in the creation of the index.
He’s right and wrong. Your travel experience in a country is not the same as the country’s brand. These days its important how you act in public. Like children, some countries behave better than others. Some are unruly, some loud, some mild-mannered…
A better survey is the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index. I talked about it in a previous post – The Rise and Fall of Brand America.
Also: see what Peter Drucker thinks. You have to listen to the whole thing!